The first legal adult marijuana sales will begin Wednesday, January 1 in Colorado. Leaders of the initiative that made marijuana legal, Amendment 64, will hold a news conference at 7:30 a.m. MT at 3D Cannabis Center in Denver â a licensed marijuana retail store with on-site cultivation facility â followed by the first sale at 8 a.m. MT. The licensed marijuana retail store is 3D Cannabis Center, located at 4305 Brighton Blvd. in Denver.

The first customer will be Sean Azzariti, aÂ Denver-based Iraq war veteran who can now legally use marijuana to alleviateÂ theÂ symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Azzariti appeared in a Yes onÂ 64 campaign television ad last year in which he discussedÂ how legalizationÂ would benefit those suffering from PTSD â a condition that is not covered underÂ Colorado’s medical marijuana lawÂ despite repeated efforts to add it.

This is sure to be an historic event. We’ll keep you posted on news coverage as the day unfolds.

âAdults are using marijuana in every state across the nation. In Colorado, they will now be purchasing it from legitimate businesses instead of in the underground market,â said Mason Tvert, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Denver, which helped lead the legalization campaign.

The plant limit will surely result in shortages, leaving patients without access to their medicine. Even states like New Mexico, where there are 23 dispensaries,Â have experienced shortages.Â Patients in Delaware need a viable program.

The medical marijuana law already limits the number of compassion centers to three for the entire state. The Department of Justice has indicated that plant numbers and size of dispensaries will not be triggers for enforcement action and other states have proven that these tax-paying entities can be properly regulated. The cap does nothing but jeopardize patient access.

Following the Wednesday release of a national survey on teen drug use, sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) called on the agency to investigate whether regulating marijuana like alcohol and cigarettes could produce similar reductions in use among teens.

According to the annual Monitoring the Future national survey on drug use, the current use of alcohol and tobacco has dropped among teens in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades. Current marijuana use increased slightly among 8th- and 10th-graders and decreased slightly among 12th-graders. Current use is defined as use within the past 30 days.

“The results suggest that regulating alcohol and cigarettes is successfully reducing teen use, whereas marijuana prohibition has been unsuccessful,” said MPP director of communications Mason Tvert. “At the very least, this data should inspire NIDA to examine the possibility that regulating marijuana like alcohol and cigarettes could be a more effective approach than the current system.”

Yesterday, MPP issued a release based on a preliminary summary of the survey results, in which it announced its expectation that marijuana use had not increased among teens. The full survey results show that marijuana use within thirty days of the survey has increased from 6.5% to 7% among 8th-graders and from 17% to 18% among 10th-graders. It has decreased from 22.9% to 22.7% among 12th-graders. Current alcohol use has decreased from 11% to 10.2% among 8th-graders, from 27.6% to 25.7% among 10th-graders, and from 41.5% to 39.2% among 12th-graders. Cigarette use in the past thirty days decreased from 4.9% to 4.5% among 8th-graders, from 10.8% to 9.1% among 10th-graders, and from 17.1% to 16.3% among 12th-graders.

“Those selling marijuana in the underground market are not asking for ID,” Tvert said. “By regulating marijuana like alcohol and cigarettes and enforcing similar age restrictions, we would very likely see a similar decrease in availability and use among teens.”

Coloradoâs experience with regulating medical marijuana suggests that regulation might be reducing teen use. According to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System survey released in June 2012 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marijuana use by Colorado high school students dropped 11% from 2009 to 2011, the time period in which the state and its localities began regulating medical marijuana. Nationwide, teen marijuana use increased 11% during that time period.

Over the weekend, theÂ Quad-Cities TimesÂ ran a feature on the âFaces of medical marijuana in Iowa.â The article shined a compassionate light on the daily struggles that many Iowans endure and their frustration at not being able to use marijuana legally, under their physiciansâ recommendations. Twenty states and Washington, D.C., protect patients from criminal penalties for using medical marijuana;Â itâs time Iowa does, too.

There are individuals and families across the Hawkeye state whose lives would be improved greatly if medical marijuana were a legal option in Iowa. Your friends, family members, and neighbors shouldnât have toÂ move to a more compassionate stateÂ in order to find relief.

Mr. Graves just finished his degree. This should be a time of celebration for him and his loved ones. Instead, he must ponder how these charges could affect the rest of his life. While he readily accepts blame for his actions, he shouldnât be in this situation to begin with. At the very least, simple possession of marijuana shouldnât result in a criminal conviction that can destroy a personâs ability to pursue their dreams.Â

Jose Mujica is not a man who compromises his beliefs. Before he became President of Uruguay, he was shot six times and spent fourteen years in a dungeon-like military prison. Now he lives a modest lifestyle, donates most of his income to social projects, and resides in a one-bedroom farmhouse with his wife, Congresswoman and former acting President of Uruguay, Lucia Topolansky. President Mujica, once known as the worldâs poorest President (a nickname he is not fond of), is becoming known for something else – regulating marijuana.

Not only has the International Narcotics Control Board shown ignorance to the science of marijuana usage, but also it has lied about Uruguayâs willingness to work with the U.N., according to President Mujica.

âTell this old guy not to lie,â Mujica told reporters, according to Colombian daily El Espectador. âAny guy in the street can meet with me. Let him come to Uruguay and meet with me whenever he wantsâŠ He thinks that because heâs in an international position, he can tell whatever lie he wants.â

âŠ

The INCB president said on Wednesday he was âsurprisedâ that the Uruguayan government âknowingly decided to break the universally agreed and internationally endorsed legal provisions of the treaty.

But Mujica dismissed the criticism as a double standard, pointing out that the U.S. states of Colorado and Washington have already legalized weed and that both of the statesâ populations individually exceed Uruguayâs 3.4 million inhabitants.

âDo they have two discourses, one for Uruguay and another for those who are strong?â Mujica asked.

Susan Sarandon,Â respected actress and member of MPPâs VIP Advisory Board, lightheartedly confessed on Wednesday that she has used marijuana before attending almost all award shows.Â The admission came on an episode of âWatch What Happens Liveâ with Andy Cohen on the Bravo network. Cohen, during a popular segment known as âPlead the Fifthâ, asked Sarandon to âname one major Hollywood event that you showed up to stoned.â Sarandon replied, âOnly one?â and continued to elaborate that she had used marijuana before almost all award shows, except for the Oscars.

Sarandon is a long time advocate for ending marijuana prohibition. In addition to her work for MPPâs Advisory Board, Sarandon has voiced her support in interviews, and cited issues such as racial biases, civil liberties, and economic incentives as reasons to end prohibition.

Click here to see all of the influential members of MPPâs Advisory Board.

Uruguay and its President, Jose Mujica, have been making headlines recently for legislation to regulate the marijuana market. President Mujica has been determined to pass the law, supporting the movement throughout the legislative process and defending the policy to opponents both in his own country and abroad. Now that the law has passed, Uruguay is facing pressure from the U.N., which accuses the legislature of violating an international convention.

According to the President, âthe decision of the Uruguayan legislature fails to consider its negative impacts on health since scientific studies confirm that cannabis is an addictive substance with serious consequences for peopleâs health. In particular, the use and abuse of cannabis by young people can seriously affect their development.â

Cannabis is not only addictive but may also affect some fundamental brain functions, IQ potential, and academic and job performance and impair driving skills. Smoking cannabis is more carcinogenic than smoking tobacco.

The current U.N. drug policy and the 1961 Convention are not compatible with an evidence-based approach to drug policy. Luckily, Uruguay is not the only country looking to reform the worldâs approach to marijuana. Recently, there has been evidence that the U.N. is losing support for the war on drugs.Hopefully, international policy can be adapted to reflect current knowledge surrounding marijuana and the consequences of prohibition. Until then, Uruguay and other countries looking to regulate marijuana may find an enemy in the U.N.

The Michigan House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed two important bills today.Â HB 4271, sponsored byÂ Rep. Mike Callton, would allow local governments to license and regulate dispensaries.Â HB 5104, sponsored byÂ Rep. Eileen Kowall, would extend the protections currently in place for smoked forms of marijuana to marijuana extracts, a key ingredient in topical emollients, edibles, and tinctures.

Rep. Eileen Kowall

The dispensary bill received a landslide vote of 94-14, while the vote for the extracts bill was an even more lopsided 100-9 in favor. We wish to thank both Rep. Callton and Rep. Kowall for sponsoring these important pieces of legislation, and thanks to the many groups, lobbyists, and patients who supported this effort. Great work!

The bills will now be transmitted to the Senate. Stay tuned for more alerts as progress on these bills continues.

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"Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against the possession of marijuana in private for personal use."
Former President Jimmy Carter, message to Congress, August 2, 1977